A Carbon Nanotube is a tube-shaped material, made of carbon, having a diameter measuring on the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, or about one ten-thousandth of the thickness of a human hair. The graphite layer appears somewhat like a rolled-up chicken wire with a continuous unbroken hexagonal mesh and carbon molecules at the apexes of the hexagons.
Carbon Nanotubes have many structures, differing in length, thickness, and in the type of helicity and number of layers. Although they are formed from essentially the same graphite sheet, their electrical characteristics differ depending on these variations, acting either as metals or as semiconductors.
As a group, Carbon Nanotubes typically have diameters ranging less than 1 nm up to 50 nm. Their lengths are typically several microns, but recent advancements have made the nanotubes much longer, and measured in centimeters.
Potential Applications for Carbon Nanotubes:
Carbon Nanotube Technology can be used for a wide range of new and existing applications:
Carbon Nanotubes have many structures, differing in length, thickness, and in the type of helicity and number of layers. Although they are formed from essentially the same graphite sheet, their electrical characteristics differ depending on these variations, acting either as metals or as semiconductors.
As a group, Carbon Nanotubes typically have diameters ranging less than 1 nm up to 50 nm. Their lengths are typically several microns, but recent advancements have made the nanotubes much longer, and measured in centimeters.
Potential Applications for Carbon Nanotubes:
Carbon Nanotube Technology can be used for a wide range of new and existing applications:
- Conductive plastics
- Structural composite materials
- Flat-panel displays
- Gas storage
- Antifouling paint
- Micro- and nano-electronics
- Radar-absorbing coating
- Technical textiles
- Ultra-capacitors
- Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) tips
- Batteries with improved lifetime
- Biosensors for harmful gases
- Extra strong fibers
Research:
Researchers are developing materials, such as a carbon nanotube-based composite developed by NASA that bends when a voltage is applied. Applications include the application of an electrical voltage to change the shape (morph) of aircraft wings and other structures.
Researchers have found that carbon nanotubes can fill the voids that occur in conventional concrete. These voids allow water to penetrate concrete causing cracks, but including nanotubes in the mix stops the cracks from forming.